He had insisted on
Dannie drinking with him, and wanted to fight when he would not.
He addressed the bottle, and Dannie, as the Sovereign Alchemist
by turns, and "transmuted the leaden metal of life into pure
gold" of a glorious drunk, until his craving was satisfied. Then
he came back to work and reason one morning, and by the time Mary
was about enough to notice him, he was Jimmy at his level best,
and doing more than he had in years to try to interest and please
her.
Mary had fully recovered, and appeared as strong as she ever had
been, but there was a noticeable change in her. She talked and
laughed with a gayety that seemed forced, and in the midst of it
her tongue turned bitter, and Jimmy and Dannie fled before it.
The gray hairs multiplied on Dannie's head with rapidity. He had
gone to the doctor, and to Mary's sister, and learned nothing
more than the nurse could tell him. Dannie was willing to
undertake anything in the world for Mary, but just how to furnish
the "vital spark," to an unborn babe, was too big a problem for
him. And Jimmy Malone was growing to be another. Heretofore,
Dannie had borne the brunt of the work, and all of the worry. He
had let Jimmy feel that his was the guiding hand. Jimmy's plans
were followed whenever it was possible, and when it was not,
Dannie started Jimmy's way, and gradually worked around to his
own.
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